Just because thyroid is such an interesting topic --

When I got Rudy he was emaciated and clearly suffering from neglect and malnutrition. The rescue did bloodwork on him, found him to be hypothyroid, and put him on .9 mg/da of Soloxine.

After I'd had him for a few months, I cut the dose to .6 mg/da and his blood work showed that was fine, his readings were in the normal range and not in the lower 1/4. (Rudy's a Sheltie, a large one at 17" and 40 pounds now, and he was about 11 when I got him, in 2005. He weighed 24 pounds then, which will tell you what bad shape he was in. He really was near death.)

Last year I lowered him again, to .3 mg/da, and I added a Standard Process thyroid supplement. Again, blood tests showed this was a good treatment; his T4 was fine, slightly below the middle of the range considered normal.

Last week I tested Rudy again, and this time his T4 came back *high*, just above the normal range. So now I'm dropping his Soloxine to .015 mg/da, with the Standard Process supplement.

This is quite remarkable to me, and confirms what Rudy's herbalist and I both thought in 2005: that his low thyroid function was secondary to other deficiencies in his body. Apparently, good nutrition and supplementation have taken care of those! Rudy is about 14 now, and I dare say he's never been healthier. I'm really happy about this!

Wow, that's just great news for Rudy, Connie! He must be so much happier to be feeling good.

There is a guy (can't remember his name) that thinks low thyroid function is related to copper stores in humans. I'm not surprised that Rudy has shown such good improvement in your care Connie. He's one lucky pup!